Hell of a Season
by xMissDarylDixon
Summary: The world had ended and all that mattered was survival, becoming part of a group of survivors helped the siblings, falling in love and getting attached to people didn't...it's time they both started adapting. Daryl x OC, some Amy x OC
1. Silence

**A/N: well this is my attempt at TWD fanfic and a Daryl story, there will be Shane/oc either in another story or in the next chapter. I'm still making my mind. I tried to do Daryl justice but all feedback is appreciated. I took a bit of creative license with Daryl's background…So yeah, please let me know what you think. I also wanted to post this before Nebraska aired because then I can take it in a direction different to the show. We'll see more of Isabella and her brother in future but for this chapter he's just being named…this chapter is unedited so excuse any mistakes…  
>Disclaimer: I own Nada…well I own Isabella and Christopher I suppose. The title 'Hell of a Season' belongs to The Black Keys…<strong>

I watched Daryl crouch beside Merle and let out a sigh, he'd already had to deal with the loss of his brother once. He raised the gun he was holding; aiming it at the fallen walker that was once his big brother, a shaky finger on the trigger.  
>"I'm sorry Brother" he said quietly before he pulled the trigger, a single tear rolling down his cheek.<p>

I knelt beside him placing a hand on his arm, he wasn't one for physical contact but he needed to know that someone was there…that I was there. Trying to convince him that someone cared enough to talk to him and appreciate him had been hard enough these last few weeks. He'd pushed both myself and Carol away, telling us both how worthless he was. The guilt of Sophia's death had taken over any thought he'd ever had about being good. We'd had more than a couple of arguments over it.

"_Seriously Daryl, that wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault! She was a victim of this messed up world. You couldn't stop it from happening just like you couldn't stop what happened to Merle" Bringing Merle in was a little low on my part  
>"You don't know a damn thing about any of this shit. Just leave me the hell alone you dumb bitch"<em> _he yelled as I followed him to the motorcycle, I was a bit too stubborn for my own good sometimes_

_"No Daryl, you need to stop blaming yourself for god's sake, this isn't your fault. We're out here in a world full of the fucking living dead, they did this." I found myself yelling back at him_.  
><em>"Don't make me tell you to leave me the fuck alone again Isabella, go back and tell Carol that I want you to both to stay the fuck away from me"<em> _he cut any argument I had off as he kick started his motorcycle and took off, speeding away from the farm._

He'd eventually come back looking just as angry as before, he sure held a grudge. We hadn't spoken properly since then and it had been bothering me. Apart from my brother and Carol he was one of the few people I liked to talk too. My thoughts drifted back to the body in front of us, I found myself disturbed by the notion that I was glad for Merles death; I hadn't really known Merle to think much about him but the things Daryl told me about him and how he treated his brother were not for the faint hearted and I found myself resenting him for making Daryl feel like less of a person. His death allowed Daryl to move on, or at least I hoped he would move on.

Daryl and I stayed in the same position for a long time, I hadn't dared to move or talk out of fear that he'd snap back to reality and unleash his anger on the people who'd essentially caused this. At one point or another Rick had bought a blanket over to cover Merle with but I'd made sure he didn't attempt it and taken the blanket from him. In the state Daryl was in he'd probably kill him for even coming near his brother had he have noticed Ricks presence. After a while It seemed like it had been long enough that it would be safe to attempt to get Daryl moving.

"Daryl…" I said quietly almost afraid to break the silence, he turned his head to look at me and his eyes were blood shot and swollen from the crying he'd been doing "We should bury him" I suggested, tilting my head toward Merle "They already dug a grave for him" I added.

Daryl responded with a simple nod of agreement, I was surprised; Daryl always had something to say. He got to his feet and watched as I placed the blanket over Merle, I was sad to see another person who'd been turned into a monster, no one deserved the loss of their humanity.

Daryl bent down to wrap the blanket around Merle before picking his lower half up by the legs and dragging him toward the grave the others had dug; rolling his brother into it he wore a stoic mask that showed little emotion. I was surprised at how little care he took of his brother's body.

"Always thought Merle'd be the one ta kill me" Daryl spoke quietly as he got to his feet again "he'd be pissed tha' I killed him and tha' some damn walker bit him. 'Parently he didn't have the guts ta 'opt out' as Doctor Jenner called it" he let out a bitter laugh.

"truth be tol' he was a damn coward underneath it all, still loved the dumb son o' a bitch. The bastard took care of me when Pa backed out." Too bad Merles idea of 'Care' came from his fists, I found myself thinking silently. "I reckon he served as an example of what I didn't want ta be. Always said I was weak an' I was never good 'nough for him but when the world turned to shit and the dead started eatin' the living…I suddenly mattered" he paused for moment picking up one of the shovels, as he did so, I found myself wondering if he actually realised he was talking

"I'm still gon' miss the rotten Son o' a bitch. Good tah know he aint out there no more." He shovelled the first bit of dirt into the grave as I followed his lead. Soon the grave was filled and we were both covered in sweat, I looked at Daryl unsure of what to say.

"I'm still pissed at yah Isa" he hissed at me before storming toward his bike pushing it toward the old farmhouse the group had decided to stay in for the night. It was about 20 miles away from Hershels farm.

"Don't care whether you're pissed or not, you're sharing' a room with me cause nobody wants tah get in your way" I said following him into the house "so you better get over it soon"

"Things would be easier if ya stayed away like the others" he grumbled, turning to give me a glare as we reached the room we were sharing

"I would but you don't scare me and if I annoy yah enough maybe you'll finally get over your problems with me just to get me to stop" I answered back, I wasn't really sure how I ended up feeling so playful all things considered. I sat on the end of my bed pulling my combat boots off along with my socks. Daryl pulled the covers back and kicking his boots off and got into the bed getting annoyingly comfortable in the middle.

"Wow, what a gentlemen." I rolled my eyes in his general direction  
>"I'm only a gentleman to women." He hissed almost playfully as he pulled the blankets up around himself<p>

"well prince charming, this _woman_ ain't sleeping on the floor. Move your ass over." I rounded the bed and pulled the covers back, shoving him back to his side of the bed before getting in.

"Jus' don't hog all of the damn bed" that was the pot calling the kettle black, I watched as he rolled onto his side facing away from me, he was always trying to shut the people who care about him out

"Would you please just talk to me?" I huffed, I tended to be more stubborn than this but the situation had changed drastically. Letting him to hold a pointless grudge against wasn't worth it.

"What do you want to talk about?" he mumbled as he turned to face me "do you want ta talk about the fact tha' you still have your damn brotha' when I had ta shoot mine earlier?" his voice rose with every word, he sounded bitter and upset

"why don't we talk about the fact tha' you won't leave me the hell alone and how you're always in the damn way." It was like a bucket of ice cold water to the face, I wasn't sure why his words hurt so much this time, and he'd said the same thing several times. This time it seemed like he meant it "how about you just leave me the hell alone and go the fuck to sleep"

"Well then I guess I should leave you to it. I was just trying to make things good so you knew that you had someone. But I'm not going to stick around with someone who doesn't want me there." I picked up my bag and my combat boots before opening my door and making my way toward the room my brother was sharing with Glenn. I was about to knock on the door when I heard loud snoring coming from the other side of it.

I huffed and went to the small living room ready to sleep on the couch, I'd wanted to talk to one or both of them but I guess the couch and loneliness was it for me.  
>"Daryl, kick you out?" Carols quiet voice startled me<p>

"something like that" I sighed

"he cares about you…he just doesn't know what to do." She offered with a smile "come stay with me, my room has two beds."

She took the bag from me and led me to the small room she had chosen for herself. Carol and I had become quite close since Chris and I had arrived, she reminded me of our nanny in so many ways. I think that was why Chris stayed away, he tended to try and forget while I tried to keep the memories alive. Our nanny had taken the place of our parents who were always too busy for us, she was more of a mother two us then ours ever was.

She was ready to take me under her wing as soon as I joined the group, even after Sophia came out that barn she stuck close to me. When he allowed it Carol also provided Daryl with the motherly love he'd missed out on. I stood in front of the small bright pink mirror that obviously once belonged to a child and pulled my long auburn hair out of its pony tail brushing my fingers through it, I was too tired to take the time to brush it.

"Every time Daryl tries to push you away, you never leave, what changed?" Carol met my eyes in the mirror as she sat down on the bed that was considered hers for the night.

"He seemed like he meant it, usually it's just his way of acknowledging my presence." I had to wonder if I'd over reacted. I knew Daryl needed some time to himself so this was probably good for the both of us.

"Just remember emotions are running high for him and he never talks about it so it's probably just a carry on from that" Carol suggested, she was right and I almost felt guilty for leaving him "he does need the time to himself though, so he can grieve properly without having to hide his emotions from you…"

"You're right Ma" I smiled a little, approaching my bag and fishing through it, I eventually found what I was looking for. I pulled out my favourite soft toy that I'd had from when I was 5, it was a toy dog, that I'd named Rusty. Rusty had always been a form of comfort for me, if I'd had something on my mind when I was little I'd carried him around and up until the world ended I'd slept with him every night.

I went to the bed that was mine for the night, climbing under the covers. This whole thing with Daryl was especially on my mind, I knew he probably wasn't as angry as he had been but I was afraid that he'd up and leave if he and I weren't talking. I'd been instantly drawn to Daryl, much to his dismay at first (and probably now.) Once I'd shown him that I was no threat to him and I didn't intend on causing much trouble he opened up, two days ago he'd finally told me what Merle had done to him.

"_the first time he hit me I was 12, Pa had come to visit and chewed Merle out for not taking good care of me, Ironic really since he left 2 years 'fore that" he scoffed at the thought "he slapped my brother over the head an' told he better have sorted things out the next time he visits. By then my brother was about 18 and had already started taking drugs…before I knew what was happening he was on top of me punching and slapping me yellin' 'bout how I needed to fix things, thinkin' back I reckon he was probably high, but at 12 years old I didn't know the difference" he let out a shaky breath._

_"From then on he found a reason to hit me or burn me almos' everyday, telling me how I wasn't good enough and no one but him cared, I believed him too. Pa had well an' truly up an' left when I was 13, figured he didn't give a shit about me an' that Merle was right. By the time I was 15 I was covered in scars but big enough to fight back. His abuse soon turned into fist fights, we'd almost kill each other, I got my first criminal record for assault at 16 when a neighbour called the police on us, Merle managed to convince the cop tha' I was just as bad as 'im and tha' I started the fight. It continued for while with a continuous cycle of Merle goin' to prison for all sorts of charges, getting out fighting with me and then me in juvie for assault and then eventually prison." He took a deep breath as I noticed he was shaking_

_"When I was about 18 I had enough money to move out. So I moved into a small house on the other side of town. By then everyone thought the Dixon brothers were trouble but me, I was just trying to survive, to defend mahself; no one ever gave me a chance to explain. I mean I know I have a bad temper but that only really got bad once this damn apocalypse started. I aint nothin' like Merle though, he's the opposite of what I want tah be, but he's still ma brother and I stuck close to him. Even when I moved I still visited him, we would go hunting together, drinking and surprisingly enough no real fighting, I suppose that's cause I was big enough an' ugly enough to cause damage to Merle" _

Carol and I were the only ones who knew about Merles abuse of Daryl, the others had seen his scars after he injured himself and I was sure they'd all probably put two and two together but none of them were keen to mention it. I hoped for their sake that the night simmered Daryl's temper down, I knew he'd probably resent Rick and the others but I was fairly sure he wouldn't act on it; he'd just be more broody.

"He'll be okay Isabella" Carol tried to reassure "he's been to hell and back lately and he's still surviving, he's tough, at one point he told me no one could kill Merle but Merle but I reckon that term applies to Daryl instead." She smiled and got up from the bed making her way over to me

"just get some rest Isabella." I felt like I was a child again as she tucked me in, but I really didn't mind it. I tossed and turned for the next few hours before finally falling asleep.

I woke up to the sound of whispering in the morning, I knew exactly who it was as I listened in  
>"it aint fair Daryl, you shouldn't take your emotions out on Isabella" Carol hissed<p>

"I know, I came ta see if she was alright. I snapped and then she was gone, I was expectin' her to come back"

"well you best apologize because that girl thinks tha world of you and you best not lose her." I opened my eyes slowly and turned to face them raising an eyebrow at the two of them.

"Morning" I pulled the sheet up hiding my smile

"Good Morning Isabella" Carol said over enthusiastically "I best go see how breakfast is going" and with that she not so subtly left Daryl and I alone.

I stayed in the same position looking up at Daryl, he knelt beside the bed so our faces were level "I'm sorry Isa, I was an asshole to ya an' you didn't deserve it for once" he ended up smirking, and I began to wonder what sort of an apology this was.

"s'alright Daryl, you'd had a tough day" I smiled "lets just get back to normal."

Before I could even process another thought his lips were on mine, it was just a soft peck on the lips that I barely felt. I looked at Daryl trying to gauge his mood; he was new to this sort of thing from what I knew about him and he seemed like the tap and run type. It was easier just to have meaningless sex and run then to worry about emotions, something he fought not to show anyone.

I leant over the edge of the bed bringing my lips to his in a longer more sensual kiss. Before either of us really knew what was going on he was hovering over me on the bed, as our tongues fought for dominance. His calloused hands skimmed my sides, as the world around us was all but forgotten.

Suddenly the sound of someone clearing their throat had us breaking apart and snapping back to reality. I looked up to find Carol standing there with her hands on her hips, an amused smile upon her lips and a twinkle in her eyes.

"Now that I have your attention, breakfast is ready" she chuckled, I felt my cheeks burning and I had no doubt that Daryl would bolt in a minute. She left the room as I took hold of Daryl's arm before he had a chance to leave

"Does this change anything?" I questioned, asking the question left me completely nervous.

"na, you jus' go back ta being annoying an' I'll go back to actin' like you're annoying me…" he left the room and left me confused. I realised he probably wasn't ready for anything more than friendship but I hoped like hell that he would be before the world outside got either of us.

I huffed and got to my feet changing into whatever clothes didn't smell and went down to join everyone for breakfast, I sat between Carol and Daryl not entirely sure what to say or do. I picked at my food too preoccupied by Daryl's rash behaviour; his hand took mine under the table, as if he was trying to keep a secret. If I didn't know Daryl I'd probably be feeling rather insulted and rejected but I realized he was trying to let his actions speak louder than words.


	2. Crash

**A/N: I was going to update last night but I couldn't, so here it is. I really hope this chapter is okay, I tried my best. Thank you guys so much for the reviews, favourites etc it's awesome! I will try to update on a weekly basis. Any feedback is much appreciated. I couldn't resist keeping a certain someone alive. lol.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
><strong>

Once breakfast was finished everyone went to go grab their stuff so we could on the road, it was a shame really; this place was nice. I let out a sigh as I pulled my combat boots on, they had killed my feet when I first found them in a hunting store they seemed practical but they really weren't at first. Chris had made so much fun of me for it because he'd warned me about it; I hadn't known that my brother was right for once.

I stood up pulling my hair brush out of my bag; it was one of my prized possessions now. It was kind of crazy how all the little things you take for granted become important. I started brushing out the tangles wincing every so often when I would brush through a really bad knot. Ironically that was exactly why I didn't brush it sometimes, it was a twisted cycle.

After a few more minutes I tied it into a pony tail pulling on the spare cap I'd scammed from Glenn, he only needed one…he and Chris had become close since we found the group on the highway. They were so much alike it was scary; if Glenn weren't Korean I'd swear he was our long lost brother. I guess that made him our long lost Korean brother from another mother.

"Are you ready to go?" Carol spoke up breaking me out of my trance

"yes ma'am" I picked up my bag walking out of the room with her, I spotted Daryl walking out of his room at the same time and smiled at him, from what I could gather at the breakfast table whatever he and I had going was supposed to be a secret. I fell into step beside him as he exited the house. The thought of kissing him crossed my mind but I decided against it, if he wanted to keep it a secret then a secret it would be. Sometimes you never really knew with Daryl, he could be tender (or at least his version of tender) one minute and then get all snappy the next.

"Taking the bike?" I raised an eyebrow trying to keep it casual

"yep" he answered simply

"can I ride with you?" I was probably pushing it but being close to Daryl was something I really wouldn't mind

"hell naw" he gave me a hard look

"why not?"

"s'not safe" he answered simply

"well then you shouldn't be riding either Daryl" I grumbled, I knew I was getting a little pouty

"I'm used to it, yeh aint" he huffed, I was clearly starting to annoy him.

"Well what better time to start getting used to it" I grinned playfully

"it aint happenin' Isabella" he gave me a stern look that said quit it.

"Fine, I'll ride in RV" I hated the idea of him being on the bike alone

"good, I just want yeh to be safe. That's why I don't want yeh ridin' with me" he patted my arm "I'll be fine"

"better be" I gave him a smile before heading off toward the RV.

I stepped inside as everyone turned to look at me, around the small table sat Amy, Andrea, Chris, Glenn and Maggie; they looked like a can of sardines all squeezed in there. Dale was in the driver's seat and Carol sat in the passenger's seat beside him. Rick, Lori and Carl were in her Cherokee, she'd stayed away from the Grimes family since Sophia's death for obvious reasons. Carl reminded her too much of the loss of Sophia, though she was slowly getting back to normal but it would take some time. T-Dog and Shane were also riding in the Cherokee, Shane had ditched the jeep back at the highway when we'd found them. I felt sorry for T-Dog having to sit in the Cherokee with Shane, Rick and Lori, that was one awkward love triangle no one wanted to be stuck in the middle of.

"Nice of you to join us Sis" Chris snickered

"about time, haven't seen you properly since we got to the Greene's farm" Glenn added

"Keep this up and you won't see me again for that long" I took a seat on the floor "don't move on my account little bro"

"thanks I won't" he out right laughed this time

"someone keep me company" I pouted as the RV started with a loud rumble, Daryl rode ahead of everyone. I tried to push away the panic that was setting in as Carol turned her head, she gave me a look that said I needed to calm down, I knew what she had said last night was right. He could take care of himself.

"Alright, I'll give you some company" Amy smiled and squeezed her way out of the seated area before taking a seat beside me on the floor

"Thanks Amy" I smiled, at least someone was willing to sit on the floor beside me

"she's just trying to impress her boyfriend's sister" Andrea chuckled, Amy gave Andrea a look that said she was going to die later and I narrowed my eyes at my dear brother

"when were you going to tell me Chris?" I reached over and hit his leg

"I figured you might have noticed sooner but Daryl's been the centre of your attention for so long you never noticed" he gave me a cheeky grin

"that's no excuse bro, I'm a bit oblivious when it comes to most things and you know it" I frowned, I knew I really had no right to be upset because I had no intention of telling them about Daryl but that was different, he was different.

"I'm sorry sis, I promise it won't happen again" he leant down and pressed a kiss to the top of my head

"that's more like it." I grinned up at him and then turned to Amy who now looked a little sheepish "Chill girl, I'm only mean to those who earn it." I chuckled getting properly settled beside her

We spent the next 20 minutes chatting, the main topic of discussion as the RV came to a halt had been the things we missed about the world before it ended. Looking up I watched Daryl rush to the RV, leaning up to the driver's side window to speak.

"Walker herd comin', looks like there's thousands of em. Gonna tell the others" he moved fast as I watched, I got up and swung the door of the RV open for him as he rushed inside, I shut the door behind him and hit the locks. By now everyone was hidden, Glenn and Maggie had gotten into the small bathroom together, Andrea and Amy were under the table, Carol, Chris and Dale were lying flat on the floor in the middle as Daryl and I rushed to lay in the back between the beds.

He pulled me into his strong arms as I allowed my head to rest against his chest, we heard their hungered moans first; the sound of awkward broken shuffling came next. I began to tremble as my mind filled with all the horrible possibilities, I couldn't lose my brother or Daryl, though I suppose If the walkers got to them, they'd get to me too.

I tried to hide the shock that came over me as Daryl hesitantly began to stroke my hair; it was a very tender sentiment from someone like Daryl. I began to calm down; my trembling subsiding after a few more minutes of the same. I was surprised that Daryl didn't stop stroking my hair once I stopped trembling; in all honesty though, I was glad he hadn't stopped it made me feel all gooey inside. He was slowly softening up and learning to acknowledge his feelings as well as others.

After what seemed like hours the sounds of the walkers faded into the distance, we all waited until we couldn't hear them at all before moving, we were damn lucky none of the walkers got curious. It only took one trying to get in to fuel the others. Daryl and I stayed in the same position as the others slowly began to move arpund us, I allowed myself to enjoy the feeling of laying in his arms and the warmth I felt before I decided it was time to sit up, as we both sat up the two of us received curious looks from everyone in view excluding Carol.

At this rate it was going to be a hard thing to keep from everyone, though the curious looks could very well have been because no one was used to seeing Daryl act in a gentle manner. I didn't think he was even used to acting this way with anyone. I smiled at Daryl and got to my feet as he followed suit.

"Daryl…" I trailed off trying to come up with a polite way of telling him but I came up with nothing "I'm riding with you" I said bluntly, had to be firm or he'd just say no again

"I ain't lettin' yeh get on that bike Isa" he gave me a look that said he wasn't budging

"Don't care what you want, I'm coming on that bike with you" I glared at him "I'd feel safer being on that bike with you, I need to be there and know you're okay."

We were in the midst of our whisper argument when Glenn and Maggie finally came out of the tiny bathroom, Maggie's eyes were bloodshot and swollen from crying and she looked incredibly distressed. Glenn looked pale and kept throwing worried glances in her direction.

"The walkers…they're heading toward the farm" she finally spoke becoming increasingly hysterical

"I'll go warn em'" Daryl offered right away, I suspected he was eager to please and show that he wasn't worthless. No one actually thought he was but after losing Sophia he'd lost all the progress he'd made in terms of what he thought about himself.

"If you go, I go" I gave him a look that said not to argue but I doubted he'd listen. The passengers of Carols Cherokee approached the RV, also thankfully all in one piece as Daryl and I exchanged equally stubborn looks. Neither of us intended to budge on this, Dale opened the door for the five of them as they entered the RV, as Rick spotted Maggie you could see the light bulb go off in his head.

"The herds headin' toward the Greene's farm, I said I'd go warn em'" Daryl spoke up

"and I said I'd go with him" I added, I knew he'd rather I stay here with everyone but there was no way in hell I would allow him to go on his own "It'll be easier for two people to round the family up and help them get everything ready" I explained, by now everyone was exchanging weary looks, Chris looked like he wanted to murder someone (probably me) as did Daryl "we can take a root that avoids the herd and get to the farm before they do"

"That sounds like a decent plan" Rick finally agreed. I turned to Daryl giving him a happy smile, instead of the smug look I'd been considering; he obviously didn't share the sentiment as he sent a glare in my direction. Chris looked like he wanted to argue with me, but he knew how stubborn I could be when I wanted to do something.

I followed Daryl out of the RV once we'd mapped out the route we were going to take, he trudged over to his bike, picking up his crossbow and slinging it over his back, a rather obvious way to try and stop me from climbing on the back of the bike.

"Give me the crossbow" I held my hand out as I stood in front of him, he sent yet another glare in my direction

"Hell naw, if yer comin' get on and lets go"

"fine, whatever" I climbed onto the back of the bike, his crossbow somewhat in the way as I tried to reach around it and him to hold on, the crossbow dug into my chest making it rather uncomfortable "this isn't going to work, just give the damn thing to me"

"or you could just let me go alone" he suggested, sounding rather pleased with himself.

"that would be a definite no" I wasn't sure why he was so against me coming, I couldn't tell if it had to do with his reluctance to allow me to ride with him or if it had to do with the threat of the herd of walkers.

"You ain't Gonna give up are you?" he huffed

"nope, so you should give me the crossbow" I reasoned

"fine, if you get hurt I'm gonna kill yah" he leant forward and took the crossbow off, handing it to me as I slung it over my back. I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist, linking my hands in the middle as he started the bike.

Thus far the ride had been smooth, we'd passed a couple of walkers on the way but that had been it. We were heading toward a more isolated strip of highway. The further we went the more walkers we saw; they were simply drifting in the area, never fast enough to catch us. It was just one lane surrounded by leafy green trees, the trees portrayed an entirely different world to the stark contrast to the reality that was the vast amount of ambling walkers, the dead body's that were roaming around us, covered in blood and guts.

I found myself wondering if the blood was theirs or if it was the blood from their last meals, it was hard to tell. Most of the walkers were incredibly emaciated, as if they were walking skeletons. Their frames carried little to no fat, some of them had been torn open and disembowelled. They hardly looked like the people they once were, they looked more like the monsters they'd become. I had tightened my grip around Daryl, something he hadn't seemed bothered by. I began to feel slightly less worried as the walkers thinned again and we were down to one or two. We were headed toward a suburb called Oakville; it was similar to the subdivision Shane and Andrea had explored.

I snapped back to reality as the bike began to get wobbly, as Daryl struggled to control it. Before we had a chance we hit something on the ground and the bike began to fly as did Daryl and I, I released him mid-air before we both hit the ground with thunderous and very painful thuds. There was a dull ache in my head, my right cheek throbbed and my body ached from the impact as I crawled toward Daryl who had been knocked unconscious, I was to out of it to really panic but aware enough to realise we needed cover; I noticed a van across the empty street as I struggled to get to my feet. I shook Daryl trying to wake him but all attempts failed. It was time to get moving.

A surge of much needed adrenalin hit me as I took Daryl's leg and began to drag him toward the van. The small distance seemed a lot greater with his life in my hands. After a struggle I managed to get him over to the van rolling him under it and crawling under there myself. I took Daryl's hunting knife from its sheath that was hooked into his belt, the crossbow was still on my back but I couldn't risk getting a bad shot with only two bolts left.

I finally took a moment to actually survey the damage to the still unconscious Daryl, he had a large gash in his left arm and a head wound that was bleeding profusely. It was thankfully only small but he definitely had a concussion. I sighed to myself and said a little prayer for him. I didn't hear any moaning or shuffling as we laid there; I slowly slid out from under the van and got to my feet keeping an eye out. I moved to the driver's side of the van and found the door unlocked, the keys were in the ignition.

Woah, someone wanted us to survive. Opening the door carefully in case there were walkers in there I was thankful to find no walkers jumping out at me, I took a look inside and found it empty. I needed to get Daryl in here and get the doors locked fast. I opened the sliding door at the side of the van and knelt down, reaching under it and grabbing Daryl's undamaged arm, I put all my weight into dragging him out from under it.

After a few minutes of straining he was in the right position to be lifted into the van. It turned out that this was a van for transporting physically disabled people or at least that seemed like what it was. It had a ramp inside the back door and two long seats with room for a wheelchair in the back. I placed Daryl in a sitting position against the van and got in. Wrapping my arms around his chest I bit my lip to keep quiet as I pulled him up into it, before struggling to get him up on the seat behind us. After while of struggling I finally managed to get him in a lying position on the longest seat directly beside the door, in the time that it took his head wound had finally stopped bleeding. I pulled the sliding door shut and moved to the front of the van hitting the central locking button.

I knelt on the floor beside Daryl, tugging his shirt off and used his knife to tear a strip from it, using the strip of fabric as a make shift bandage and wrapping it tightly around the gash on his left arm. When he woke up he was going to be in a lot of pain, I remembered the stash of Merles that Daryl had kept in the bike, maybe there were pain killers in there. I let out an audible sigh and I allowed myself a moment to peak through the window, a few walkers had gathered and they were sniffing around the motorcycle.

I tried to think of ways to be able to grab that bike but it was looking rather difficult. I'd never felt so helpless before, I spent a while longer trying to come up with a viable option but I knew that right now I was on my own and leaving the van open left Daryl at risk, my only weapon was Daryl's hunting knife and the one thing I wanted had 6 walkers sniffing around it.

I moved to the front of the van making sure the doors were locked before turning the keys in the ignition, the van sputtered to life and I let out the breath I hadn't realised I was holding. The sound of the vans motor caught the walker's attention as they slowly crossed the street; I put my foot on the accelerator and speed off leaving them behind. We were only about 15 miles away from the farm. I drove as fast as I could, I let out a sigh of relief as I drove down the gravel drive way and found no signs of the walkers having been there yet.

I watched as Hershel and the rest of the family rushed out onto the front porch, weapons in hand. Thankfully they lowered them when they recognized me; I got out of the van rushing toward the deck. I knew the herd was getting closer.

"We have to go now, there's a herd of walkers…" I paused to catch my breath "…coming this way, there's thousands of them!" I exclaimed "we were on the highway when they passed us; we had to hide in the RV and the Cherokee. We were damn lucky nothing happened to us."

"Please just come Maggie's extremely upset, please listen to me" I really didn't think they'd listen but suddenly they were snapping into action.

After about 20 minutes of rushing around they were all set to go. The back of the blue truck was packed full of their stuff and they'd put a few things in the van. The house had been locked up tight as well as the stables; they had nothing to transport the horses in and had reluctantly left them behind. Jimmy and Beth were in the truck whilst Hershel and Patricia rode in the Van and tended to Daryl's wounds.

I'd explained what happened with the bike crashing when we'd been rushing around. They now sat in the back stitching up the gash on Daryl's arm. I drove carefully and slowly to ensure they could do a proper job, we reached Oakville with some time to spare. I backed the van so the bike was right by the back door.

Jimmy was already out of the truck as I leapt out the van we both leapt into action rolling the bike up the ramp into the back, some walkers were approaching as we shut the back door, he made it to the truck unscathed as I pulled the hunting knife out of my pocket I spotted a walker by the driver's side door, the walker had a missing arm and a completely unnaturally bent ankle, it was hard to tell whether it was male or female, it's chest had been ripped open and all its rotting organs could be seen, I plunged the knife into its eye, cringing at the sound of its eyeball popping and the squishing of the knife entering its brain. The walker dropped and I stepped over its body quickly opening the door and getting into the van, turning the keys in the ignition before speeding away.

Whilst we were driving Daryl gained consciousness, grumbling about how he'd told me not to come. Only Daryl Dixon would be involved in a serious motorcycle accident and still have a point to prove.

"Well I'm not the one with concussion am I?" I retaliated cheekily, Daryl didn't like being coddled and I wasn't about to start coddling him.

"Yeh still have a gash in yer cheek" he grumbled

"You have a gash twice the size In your arm…" I responded, sometimes we were like kids with our petty arguments "I saved your life so ner" I poked my tongue out knowing Daryl was watching.

"Least I don't act like a 5 year old" he mumbled

"sure you don't, now shut your face and rest." I responded effectively cutting the conversation, Hershel and Patricia were exchanging amused looks. Every part of me wanted to lunge over the seat and hug Daryl so tight he couldn't breathe but he needed his personal space right now and there was no one to drive the van for me right this moment.

We reached the part of the highway at dusk and found the RV sitting in the same spot along with the Cherokee. Everyone approached the van looking confused, whilst Maggie ran to the truck behind it hugging her sister. As I got out of the van I was picked up in a pair of strong arms that could only be my brothers  
>"thank god you're okay Bells" he whispered in my ear as I hugged him back<p>

"You need to have more faith in me bro" I chuckled and he placed me on my feet finally surveying the damage.

"What happened to your cheek?" he leant down to get a closer look

"we crashed the bike…" I trailed off and turned in time to see Hershel helping Daryl step out of the van "he got the worst of it, the van was a across the street so I got him in it and drove to the farm." By now others had gathered around us and were listening "Daryl was knocked out for a fair chunk of the time, he hit the ground a lot harder than I did" I explained hoping Daryl accepted my explanation of events

"not sure why, but the bike started getting' wobbly an' I couldn't get it under control, I think we hit a rock an' it sent us flyin." Daryl explained.

"We can clear some space in the RV for you both" Dale offered, looking between Daryl and I.

"rather sleep in the van" Daryl said

"me too" I moved to stand beside Daryl

"well we found a range rover with tinted windows and No dead smell so you could take that" Shane suggested, I looked at Daryl who nodded  
>"okay."<p>

We settled in the back of the range rover about 20 minutes later having locked the doors, we laid together in silence his good arm was wrapped around my shoulders and my head was resting against his chest. Neither of us really knew what to say as we both drifted off to sleep our mutual exhaustion taking over.


	3. Transition

**A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to update. This is a shorter chapter and a little bit of a filler but let me know what you think of it. The reason it's taken so long is that I've pretty much planned out the entire story so updates should be more frequent. It was more than a little weird planning out characters deaths and I was eternally thankful that people couldn't read my thoughts. Lol. Hope you guys like this anyway. I couldn't add anymore to the chapter without it being too much in one go. Also, Daryl won't always been quite as soft as he is in this chapter, I have plans for his and Isabella's relationship as well. Excuse any mistakes. This is once again unedited. Thanks heaps for the reviews! See you next time I update. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

"We should go to Fort Benning" Shane spoke rather calmly. I think he was trying to show people he wasn't always the bad guy

"do you really think that's a good idea after the CDC?" Glenn spoke up, he usually kept quiet but I guess something like that changed people. The group had told us about what happened at CDC and where they planned to go, but then Sophia had gone missing and Carl had gotten shot, things changed after that.

"Do you really think that a military base could stand up to the last two herds we've seen? No one would have the focus to shoot every single walker in the head during a massive attack that could ensue from the walkers descending upon them." Rick spoke up; he had a logical reason worked out, that was what we needed.

"Well, what the hell do you suggest we do?" Shane was beginning to get angry.

"What about a large estate?" I suggested, speaking up for the first time. Daryl was sitting on the back of a car looking increasingly pissed off.

"Where are we finding one of those?" Shane prompted smugly

"well there are a lot of wealthy places in Georgia, like Savannah, there are places close to the coast that are isolated, we'd be close to the ocean for fishing, there are townships close that we could get supplies from or we could gather supplies on the way and then settle." I proposed. Chris and I had been in Georgia looking for places to live because we both had new jobs in Atlanta.

We'd left our parents as soon as I turned 18, they weren't abusive they just didn't care. They had paid for a new place in Columbia, South Carolina. That was where we'd lived up until now. Our parents had stayed in Red Bank, with more money than sense. Once we'd driven into Georgia and made our way to Atlanta we'd found that Savannah had been a lot further away than either of us had realized. Since we'd made it all the way there, so we agreed to have a look at Savannah anyway.

"That sounds like a wise idea" Rick smiled, as the group agreed

"So that's it? We just go. We skip the potential safety of a military base for a pipe dream like a seaside estate" Shane looked extremely pissed

"So you suggest we risk our damn lives an' go ta Fort Benning instead of making our way to somewhere that has a low population and is more isolated and could provide us with huntin' and fishin'?" Daryl finally spoke up, he was sounding rather calm for himself.

"How about we go through or at least passed Fort Benning on the way?" Chris suggested; he'd clearly been trying to contain his anger and had finally calmed down enough to speak. He wasn't as hot headed as Daryl but he had a temper on him and you never wanted to be in the firing line. We hadn't fought since before the breakout, we had little spats before we met the group but it was just that normal brother and sister bonding.

We'd been on foot when we'd found the group, our car had broken down about a mile down the road on the other side off the cars that the RV and the other vehicles had stopped at. We'd been running from the herd that had snuck up on us, as we were darting through the cars Daryl stopped us, telling us to get under one before leaving to help T-Dog. Chris and I had laid there absolutely terrified holding onto each other for dear life.

Once the walkers had passed, Daryl came back to get us, we weren't sure he was going to or even whether he'd survived but no screaming had been heard from where we were, but he did. Daryl and Chris helped T-Dog back to the RV as I kept watch behind them. The group had accepted us right away; most of them were more worried about Sophia. Shane had some issues when we came back but the majority had outweighed him.

I knew what Shane had meant, taking on two people was going to be a strain on resources but Chris and I could hold our own. We'd eventually been able to show him that we would pull our weight by going out there searching for Sophia every day and helping with the farm and hunting. We were now firmly a part of the group with Chris and Amy together and Daryl and I being whatever it is we were.

After 20 minutes of going over the map and agreeing on a route, we were on our way to Savannah. We had agreed to take a direct route through Fort Benning so Shane could see just what he wanted us to head to, it was risky but necessary, if we missed out on the opportunity for safety there was no going back. Daryl, Hershel, Patricia, Chris, Amy and I were in the van. Chris had insisted on driving which I didn't entirely object to.

Though I had a feeling of unshakeable dread in the pit of my stomach; as our convoy of cars drove through Fort Benning the manmade (un-dead and alive) destruction was clear, there was no sign of any living breathing human being. The rotting bodies lined the streets and there were a lot of walkers around. After a 40 minute drive we had pulled to a stop about 10 miles out of Fort Benning when Shane had made the signal.

"There were a lot of weapons around; I saw a few guns in a pile. We need them." Shane said as soon as the rest of the group had gathered around him "I want to go get them"

"You need to take someone with you" Dale spoke up, the two of them really never saw eye to eye on anything

"You're right" Shane agreed, that was weird "I ain't gonna force no one to come"

"I'll go" T-Dog offered, everyone agreed with this.

"and me" Daryl spoke up

"You aren't going Daryl" I turned to look at him "you have a concussion, you can only just walk in a straight line"

"She's right Daryl, you need your rest" Carol gave him a meaningful look

"You can stay and protect the group" Rick offered, he knew Daryl would blow up if he really wanted to

"Whatever" Daryl huffed seemingly in agreement.

"With that out of the way, I'm coming" I offered "Aside from Andrea I'm one of your best shots" I continued

"If she goes, I go." Chris spoke up, I wasn't surprised by this; he really didn't want to let me out of his sight.

"Well that's settled, Myself, T-Dog, Chris and Isabella will head back into Fort Benning to get the weapons. That way Andrea, Dale, Rick and Amy can keep watch and keep the group safe" Shane said effectively ending the conversation.

Daryl followed me back to the van as I went to grab my handgun and some ammo. He placed his calloused hand on my arm as I went to reach for the door  
>"Yeh sure 'bout this Isa?" he spoke quietly, he almost sounded sad.<p>

"I'll be fine Daryl, I promise." I tilted my head to look him in the eye as we held each other's stare

"Make sure yeh come back to me" he sighed "an' take this, I want to make sure yer safe" he unhooked his hunting knife sheath from his belt and handed it to me "don' let them get close enough to use it" he leant down and placed a soft peck on my lips.

"You be safe too Daryl, you're not invincible. Stick with the others for me please" I hooked the sheath to my belt and took the gun and ammo I needed

"I don't know Isa, I seem ta be pretty invincible compared to all the others." I raised a curious eyebrow at him "Fine" he huffed and got into the van "yeh better come back or I'm comin' after yah."  
>I nodded and left Daryl in the van and made my way to the Cherokee.<p>

Shane drove us into Fort Benning in Carol's Cherokee. Chris and I sat together in the back seat giving each other nervous looks as we approached the area with the weapons, the plan was for Shane and T-Dog to grab what they could whilst Chris and I covered them from behind. Shane pulled into the military base; it had obviously been completely over run at some stage with well-rotted corpses littering the area, both soldiers and walkers.

We all got out of the Cherokee careful to shut the doors quietly, Chris and I followed at a slight distance, close enough that we could keep them safe, but far enough that we could all move. There were a few stragglers but nothing Chris and I couldn't deal with, they weren't close enough to shoot.

Shane began picking up guns like a mad man as Chris covered him, I followed T-Dog to the other weapons as he started picking them up. My heart was in my throat as I risked a glance in Chris' direction, I watched as he fended off the walkers just fine, much like the walkers I'd seen with Daryl were emaciated and easy to dispatch. Most of the walkers had noticed Shane and Chris, making things a little easier for me.

I was startled back to reality by T-Dog letting out a fear filled scream; "FUCK!" he shouted a walker had its hands on his shoulders about to take a chunk out of his neck. Its teeth were inches away from sinking into his skin. I pulled Daryl's knife from its sheath, and made quick work stabbing the walker through the eye. T-Dog gave me a grateful look, one I quite frankly failed to deserve, if I'd focused on the job at hand then he wouldn't have come so close. More walkers began their slow descent on us attracted by T-Dog s scream.

We got what we could and made our way back to the Cherokee with Shane and Chris. We barely had time to buckle ourselves in before Shane floored it and we left Fort Benning for good.

"What happened back there?" Shane questioned "what was the scream about?"

"A walker crept up on us and got hold of me, Isabella saved me though" T-Dog explained as I bowed my head in shame, I didn't deserve the praise. Chris wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulders; I didn't think he understood why I was upset.

We arrived back to our base (the side of road) and were greeted by the rest of the survivors. I found myself searching for Daryl in the small crowd of people as I got out of the Cherokee. I spotted him standing behind everyone, he gave me a small smile, which to most would count for nothing but to me meant a lot. Daryl rarely smiled and when he did it, it was the small smile that was in a weird way his version of a grin.

The weapons were distributed evenly between each group and soon everyone scattered as Chris and Amy became wrapped up in each other, Shane and Andrea walked off talking and T-Dog moved toward Carol who was offering him a smile. As far as I was aware they were nothing more than friends but I hoped it would change. T was a noble man and he'd treat her right.

I walked toward Daryl, unhooking his knife sheath from my pants and held it out for him to take. I smiled as he took it.

"thanks, it really came in handy"

"Yer welcome. Jus' glad to have yeh back" his voice was gruff with thinly veiled emotion

"Glad to be back…how 'bout we get away from prying eyes?" I suggested

"Good idea"

We walked out the semi-circle of vehicles that formed our temporary camp in an attempt to find some privacy, we found a Chevy about 10 metres away we both checked it out before climbing into the bed of the truck. We sat in silence for a while both gathering our thoughts. I couldn't stop thinking about how close the walker had come to biting T-Dog; I allowed it to happen too.

"What's on your mind?" Daryl spoke breaking me out of my thoughts

"T-Dog almost died because of me…" I sighed

"What do yeh mean?" he wore a confused expression

"The reason the walker was able to creep up on him is because I was watching Chris" The image of the walkers teeth inches from T-Dogs neck flashed through my mind "If T-Dog hadn't yelled and screamed he would've been a goner."

"Yeh shouldn't feel bad" Daryl took my hand in his as our fingers entwined "he's yer brother, of course yer gonna be watching him"

"but my job was to watch T" I argued

"He's alive aint he?" he had an amused look on his face "Can't get much betta than that, Yeh did yer job"

"Whatever" I mumbled.

He let go of my hand and cupped my cheeks placing a light kiss on my lips "don't be stupid" he placed another kiss on my lips lingering a little longer this time "I'm jus' happy yer back."

We sat there for a lot longer just caught up in each other, kissing and whispering to each other. There was a surprisingly lack of walkers, which scared me more than if there were walkers around.

"HAH I knew it!" a familiar voice bellowed startling us as we let go of one another; we found Amy and Chris standing there. Amy looked amused and Chris looked completely unimpressed.

He was over the top protective; he'd scared just about every boyfriend I'd ever had away. He was a lot taller than I was and even with his ginger hair and ocean blue eyes he could look scary.

"Wipe that look off your face right now Chris" I hissed

"Why didn't you tell me?" he questioned, he sounded mighty pissed

"because we wanted to keep things quiet, we haven't labelled it." I sighed; he wouldn't let this go

"why did it have to be kept a secret from me? I'm your brother" he exclaimed, I got out of the bed of the truck and approached him

"I'm sorry Chris; I didn't think you'd be upset." I looked up at taking his hand in mine

"She didn't make the decision, yeh can't be too angry at 'er. She was jus' respectin' my wishes" Daryl spoke up.

"Why did it have to be a secret?" Chris growled at Daryl

"because without TV nothin' is private no more, everythin' is everyone's business an' I wanted to get to know Isa without anyone's input. Apparently that can't happen" he huffed in response

"Fine, just don't expect me to be happy about it" he snatched his hand away from mine

"You don't even fucking know him Chris, you don't get to feel anything about it." I hated how much of an opinion he thought he had. This had always been a problem between us "he's done more for the group than most people have; he fell down a fucking cliff looking for Sophia. You should be happy that I'm happy" Daryl moved from the bed of the Chevy coming to stand beside me. Amy was already with Chris looking concerned, she obviously hadn't been a witness to his temper until now.

Chris gave me a look that said he still wasn't impressed "we'll sleep in the RV tonight" He stated before storming off with Amy.

"I'm sorry Daryl…" I looked down, this was it, he was going to end things like every other guy did.

"Why are yeh sorry? Yeh didn't do anything" he reached out, tucking a piece of my fringe behind my ear

"because he's done this before and you didn't deserve it." I looked up at him

"don't be ridiculous, I understand where he's comin' from. Yer his sister an' he wants to protect yah. Nothin' wrong with that, he jus' needs to know he can't scare me off" he shrugged, I felt a hell of a lot better with just one statement.

We made our way to the van and climbed in locking the door behind us, Patricia and Hershel were already settled in as Daryl and I squeezed onto a seat together, Daryl held me close to him with his good arm as we soon drifted off to sleep.


	4. Stumped

**A/N: Here we go a fresh update for you, I'm feeling inspired. Lol. I hope you guys like this, I like it a hell of a lot more than the last chapter. Anyway, please excuse any mistakes and enjoy! Reviews are loved! Its short again but I liked to leave things at certain points. **

**Disclaimer: I own Isabella and Christopher. That is all.**

Early the next morning we were up and on the road, heading toward a small town called Macon. We were going to loot as many supplies as we could before camping for the night. Savannah was only a 4 hour trip from Fort Benning but we needed to move slowly to preserve fuel, we only had enough to make it to Macon. Chris and Amy were back in the van so that the RV wasn't cramped.

It was extremely awkward because Chris had flat out refused to speak to me or Daryl, so Amy had to handle the map and give him the directions, the van was leading the group to Macon. I sat in the back seat curled up beside Daryl who seemed to be in one of his moods. He'd been that way since we woke up, not really talking, just grunting and sitting there. He did this every so often and it pissed me off but I wasn't going to waste my time trying to change his mind, he'd get over it eventually. I hoped.

Amy gave Chris short and snappy directions; she was none too happy with my brother for reasons unknown. I sighed and stared out the window, watching as we drove passed abandoned cars, houses and land. The cars were the worst of it; they either had dead bodies in them, some had the doors flung open, in the odd car sat a completely docile walker. They really showed what was wrong in the world. The houses were messy looking but that could be excused, you couldn't ever really know what was inside those houses and a bit of overgrown grass could be fixed easily.

It was still really weird to think that this group of people could very well be the last people on earth. It was unlikely but the chances of finding other people was slim to none, Chris and I both knew from early on that other survivors were a lot less welcoming than Ricks group. People would do just about anything to survive these days, even if it meant killing each other.

Not only did you have the walking dead to worry about, now you had the living. At least Walkers were driven solely by hunger, they weren't human, they held no emotion and they only functioned on eating. The only downside to them was that the food they desired was the living, more often than not I had found myself querying whether they could starve to the point where their second life was over. Could they possibly die of starvation? I knew we certainly could.

We arrived in Macon 3 hours later, taking a good look at the shops that were around. Rick and Shane had decided to split some of us into pairs, Daryl and I were to go into the general store and grab what we deemed necessary, Chris and Amy were being sent into the gas station for food supplies and to see if there was any gas left whilst, Glenn, Maggie and T-Dog were heading to the pharmacy. That one was going to be awkward, especially if Glenn and Maggie intended on repeating what happened the first time they visited a pharmacy.

Daryl and I crept into the store, Daryl carried his crossbow as I took his hunting knife, and he had extra bolts made so he could use it as his main weapon again. The store was surprisingly walker free as we started to gather as many things as we could. It ranged from clothes to food to books to anything either of us deemed necessary.

We left the store and dumped the stuff in the van, as we were organizing everything a loud scream came from the gas station, it was definitely Amy screaming. Rick, Daryl and I ran to find out what was going on.

"He's been bitten!" Amy exclaimed as we entered the store, I felt the world around me fade as I rushed to Chris' side, a now double dead walker was laying on the ground beside him. He had tears in his eyes as I knelt down beside him wrapping my arms around his shoulders.

"no no no no no no" I chanted repeatedly, this couldn't be happening. But there it was, his calf muscle was missing a chunk where the walker had bitten  
>"I'm so sorry Bells" he whispered<br>"how…how are you feeling?" my voice cracked as silent tears rolled down my cheeks, it was probably the dumbest question to ask in a situation like this but I couldn't think of anything else.

"fine apart from the pain where the bite is" he placed his arms around me. I could hear Amy sobbing beside us.

"Give me your belt Rick" I demanded snapping into action. He did as I said looking pale and worried, I wrapped the belt around his leg just below the knee and fastened it tightly, a plan formulating in my mind. I pulled Daryl's hunting knife out of its sheath ready to do what was necessary

"Isa, stop" Daryl tried taking the knife from me

"I have to do this Daryl" I snarled, I sounded almost inhuman

"at least let Hershel do it" Rick offered, he looked increasingly concerned, something I really couldn't blame him for

"Fine, get him quick" the acid in my voice surprised even me, they were giving up so easily.

Rick returned with Hershel a few minutes later, he had a sharper looking knife; I looked at Chris who was staring at me wide eyed.

"I have to try Chris, I can't let you go without at least trying" by now I was shaking uncontrollably as the tears continued to stream down my face. By now Daryl and Rick had secured the gas station and locked the doors. Amy had gone back to the RV unable to face seeing what was about to happen. Hershel began cutting through Chris' leg just below the belt as he cried out in pain, I held his hand in mine as both Daryl and Rick held him down.

He passed out from the severity of the pain after about 5 minutes, it took another 10 minutes for Hershel to cut right through, he was sweating profusely as he sealed up the stump.

"He's going to need blood and I'm going to need to get him into the van to do so." Hershel spoke calmly

"I'll get it" Daryl offered.

He returned with the van a few minutes later, backing it right up to the doors, we opened them as he and Rick lifted Chris into the van, Hershel climbed in with him and began to seal up the stump as best he could. I sat down as Patricia asked whether we had the same blood type, I nodded dully and watched as she inserted the needle into my arm, in any normal circumstance I would have freaked our but my mind was swimming with what had just happened and the possibilities. Would he die? would he turn? was there even the slightest chance he'd survive?

She took a fair amount of blood as I began to feel woozy. Daryl picked up a bag of lollies and forced me to eat some before giving me a fruit drink that probably contained no fruit at all.

"There's nothin' yeh can do right now, yeh need ta rest, I'll keep watch over Chris an' as soon anythin' news worthy happens. I'll let yeh know. Jus' let Hershel and Patricia do what they can" he rubbed my back before guiding me into a lying position on the long seat.

I spent a lot of time awake just listening as they worked to save Chris, at some stage Glenn had bought some powerful pain killers and equally powerful antibiotics for him. He was passed out the entire time, which was something I was unsure about, it meant he felt no pain but it also meant there was a chance he wouldn't wake up.

I woke up shielding my eyes from the sun, unsure of when I actually went to sleep in the first place. Chris was out to in the back; Rick had left a while ago. Daryl was seated beside Chris still wide awake, Patricia was sat beside him pumping the remaining blood into his system. Hershel was asleep on the other free seat.

The van was a mess with supplies strewn over one of the seats and other supplies scattered around the floor of the van. I sat up slowly and carefully in case I got dizzy. I locked eyes with Daryl who seemed to be acting a little more normal.

"so far he's woken up once, he aint got a fever and he seems to be breathing normal. Looks like choppin' off his leg was the right idea" he gave me a reassuring smile

"Hershel thinks he will pull through" Patricia added

"thank you both" I moved to sit down beside Chris stroking his fringe away from his forehead, I couldn't stop the fresh batch of tears that rolled down my cheeks as I remember the last conversation we'd had before he got bitten, it had left a lot to be desired.

I wasn't sure how long I sat there just stroking his hair and crying but I let out a shocked gasp as he moved slightly before he opened his eyes, I wasn't met with the cloudy bloodshot eyes of a walker, I was met with his normal ocean blue eyes.

"What happened?" he croaked quietly

"you were bitten…so I…so I had Hershel chop off the infected area"

"you did what?" He looked down at his legs, becoming increasingly pale as he spotted the fact that the lower part of his left calf was gone

"I didn't want you to turn" I felt a sob wrack through my body, a pair of strong arms wrapped around me from behind as Chris reached up to stroke my cheek lightly, thumbing away the tears that rolled down my cheeks.

"So far it seems like your plan worked." He gave me a weak smile "in fact, I can't feel any pain at all." He was extremely drugged up but I appreciated the sentiment "thank you…" he took my hand in both of his.

There was a knock on the van door and an extremely upset looking Amy stood outside, I slid the door open for and watched as her eyes landed on my brother, she let out a sigh of relief and moved to sit beside me.

"Don't worry; I'll give you two sometime alone." I got out of the van and wandered toward the RV

"yer shakin'" Daryl startled me from behind wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling into his side

"I….I…I…" I tried to speak but failed miserably as a painful sob wracked through my body, Daryl wrapped both his arms around me as I sobbed into his chest "I…almost…lost…him" I whispered between sobs, It had now just hit how close I'd come to losing my brother.

I'd saved his life by chopping his leg off but I also felt incredibly selfish for it, I'd put him through unnecessary pain so that he would still be around for me. I could've ended it right there and stopped his suffering. The logistics of his missing limb were now also beginning to hit me, how could he get by without it? There were no specialized prosthetic ones around that could help him either.

"yeh saved his life, he wouldn't be here if it wasn't for yeh" he held me tight, I eventually calmed down enough to breathe properly and think things over rationally.

"I condemned him to a constant struggle" I answered, I hadn't saved him, I'd saved myself

"We can make a prosthetic" Glenn spoke from the door way of the RV, I wondered how long he'd been listening

"how?"

"well when Amy came and told me what was happening I got thinking and kind of sketched something, we could use a piece of wood and some metal and a belt, It would function like a food and part of his calf muscle…" Maggie handed him the sketch as he held it out to us.

I took it from him and felt the tears welling in my eyes "thank you Glenn…could we um…make it now. I think he'd like to know it would work"

"Sure, the materials are already in the RV, I kind of gathered them earlier from cars and from the general store."

Daryl and I followed him into the RV as we got to work, it wasn't a state of the art prosthetic but it was better than nothing. I'd been approached by just about the entire group, each of them making me feeling like my decision was the right one.

"Thank you for your help Glenn. It really…" I was stopped mid-sentence by someone stomping into the RV, I looked up to find Amy standing there looking royally pissed.

"I honestly don't know how you put up with him Isabella, he just won't fucking listen!" she exclaimed, her arms flailing around with every word

"what now?" I questioned trying not to show how much her antics amused me

"he's decided he's useless, he thinks he should've been shot. He thinks he's a liability." She sighed, he and I were so much on the same page without speaking it was scary but I wouldn't change what I'd done, he deserved a chance to live.

"Glenn has come up with a solution" I smiled and picked up the wooden prosthetic

"what is it?" she stared at it confused

"it's a new leg" I smiled a little.

"I see, do you think he'll wear it?" she questioned, that was a good question. Once he made his mind up it was hard to change it. He was just as stubborn as I was.

"He will when I'm done with him" I chuckled "let me go talk to him" I stood up and hugging the prosthetic to me

Daryl stood as if to follow me "can you wait here Daryl?" I smiled at him before getting out to the RV and walking the short distance to the van. Climbing in I found Chris very much alive and wide awake, looking like he felt sorry for himself. He wore a kind of pouty 'Oh woah is me' look.

"I come bearing a gift" I crouched beside him and held out the prosthetic

"What is it?" he questioned, a confused expression crossing his face

"a new leg" I grinned a little

"what?" he eyed it warily

"Glenn and I made it" I handed it to him as he studied it.

"wow…I don't quite know what to think about this" he sighed "it might make me a little more useful"

"well for a start you'd be able to walk" I chuckled

"this sure is something…can…can I try it?" he questioned, he almost sounded nervous

"of course you can, let me help you get it on" I moved around to his well bandaged stump and strapped it on "I'll um, help you up" I opened the back door from the inside of the van and got out helping to his feet…well foot and peg.

He was unsteady on it at first, struggling to walk but as we completed a lap around the small camp, he improved. Maybe saving him was the right decision for both of us…only time would tell.


	5. Going out on a limb

**A/N: Sorry I've taken so long to update, been a bit busy with work and a driving course but that's all done now…I have an extended Authors note at the end of the chapter, as not to spoil things for people. **

_I jumped over the scattered supplies and papers of the main hallway; turning my head for a second to check if any of my charming un-dead followers had been lost but I unfortunately found that the small group of walkers were not only still there, but they were beginning to catch up. Ironic how being un-dead improves your sustainability. I continued to push forward as my legs began to ache from sheer exhaustion, my lungs were burning, my heart was thudding, and I was sure I was going to die… going out on a limb for my brother…_

The trip to savannah had become painstakingly long, we'd reach certain areas of highway that were completely blocked by cars or towns overrun by the walkers, leading to trips through suburbs and back roads, sometimes unpaved dirt roads to try and reach where we wanted, we were now in Fort Stewart, it was a rather large detour but Rick and Shane had decided it was good opportunity to get medical supplies from the army hospital.

There was also the possibility of more weapons with the army base in town. As we'd pulled up just down the street from the army base, I'd noticed a relatively new Rehabilitation unit that had a sign for a prosthetic's rehabilitation unit.

In an instant my mind had begun to fill with the possibility of finding Chris a proper prosthetic instead of the one Glenn and I had crafted. It was my fault that he was stuck like that. When I'd made the suggestion and no one had agreed, not even Chris. I'd waited until everyone had scattered and both Daryl and Chris were distracted. Slipping away armed with Daryl's hunting knife and my hand gun.

The idea had been to get in, grab a couple of prosthetics that looked like they might be what Chris needed and get out. I'd been doing well for a while there, not a walker in sight as I rummaged through the various offices and patient rooms.

But then I knocked a shelf over, a shelf full items that made a lot of noise. I'd tried hiding but they'd sniffed me out in an instant. When I'd looked outside the room the find about 6 walkers in the hall, I realized that the knife was definitely not an option and shooting a gun would only attract the attention of more walkers.

So here I was…running from walkers, alone, without a viable weapon to use. I ran and ran and ran down the seemingly endless halls. I was losing speed and I was beginning to feel like giving up, the bag of fake limbs on my back certainly didn't help the situation.

I'd taken the liberty of grabbing about 5 different length prosthetics before I'd knocked the shelf over and they were all stuffed in the bag on my back, they were really weighing me down. I had to keep them though, I'd already done something as reckless and dumb as go off on my own and if I was coming out of this alive then I should at least have what I came for with me.

I kept running, I could see the doors ahead of me as I tried to pick up the pace and then I tripped. I hit the floor with a thud and found myself thankful that it wasn't concrete this time. I pulled Daryl's hunting knife from its sheath, maybe staying on the floor had its merits.

The walkers were spread out a little, if I could get one then maybe I could get the others, the first walker, dressed in dirtied, bloodied army fatigues lunged at me, he landed on top of me knocking the air from my lungs as I struggled against it, I finally managed to plunged the knife into its head when a second one plied on top of it, grabbing for me.

The dead weight from the first walker was beginning to crush me as I struggled for air. The first walker almost acted as a shield but then the other walkers ambled along, adding to my difficulty. I didn't want to give up, but this was it, there was no way I was getting out of this alive. These walkers had just taken my self-proclaimed badass status and stomped on it.

Before my mind could truly register what was happening each of the remaining walkers heads were sent flying one by one in various directions, I took in the incredible scene in front of me, there stood a caped woman (that much I could tell by her body shape) a dark hood cast shadows over her face, she held a katana and behind her stood two walkers, there were two chains in her free hand, they each held the walkers, the walkers arms were chopped off and from what I could tell from this position, their jaws were also cut off.

"You been bit?" she finally spoke; her voice was feminine and hard, it held no real emotion

"no" I huffed as I shoved the walker off of me and got to my feet "thanks."

"Good. What the hell were you doing in here alone?" she questioned

"Being an idiot" I offered with a shrug, I knew what I'd done was stupid.

"At least you admit it" she chuckled

"so are you going to stand there with a hood on or show me your face?" I questioned, I was trying my best to ignore the walkers behind her, it was more than a little creepy that she had them but she'd just saved me so I wasn't about to ruin it.

"Alright" she pulled the hood from her head revealing her face; she was African American with short dreadlocks, she had bold features with plump lips and bold features, her eyes were dark and filled with pain, it was in everyone's eyes.

"I'm Isabella" I offered, I was a little lost for words.

"Michonne" she looked toward the doors "you traveling alone or with a group?"

"With a group, there's quite a few of us, considering" I was trying to decide whether to ask her to join the group, she'd saved my life but she had two walkers chained up behind her and a katana that could cause a lot of damage

"Thought you must be, cause there's no way you'd survive out there on your own" a chuckle escaped her lips as she offered me a smile

"I'd protest if we'd met under better circumstances…so um what's with the chained up walkers?"

"They're nothing for you to worry about, can't bite you"

"I want to ask you to join the group but it's not really my decision, just come back with me and we'll see." I shrugged

"Alright, lead the way. I've got your back."

The walk back to the convoy of parked cars didn't take long, we entered the semi-circular formation and everyone began to react, their faces portrayed many emotions, from anger, to confusion, to relief.

Everyone's reaction to Michonne varied, though most looked shocked. I couldn't really be sure if it was the walkers on chains, the katana or the fact that she was a living breathing person.

"This is Michonne, she saved my life." I stated simply, I found Daryl in the crowd of onlookers and as expected he looked pissed, maybe even beyond pissed.

"Well ain't yeh somethin' else. Yeh go off on yer own without tellin' no one an' yeh come back with some chick who carries a sword an' has pet walkers chained to her" Daryl spoke up, the venom in his voice startled me. Had the anger not been directed at me then I'd probably have found what he'd just said funny.

"Look, I'm sorry okay." I let out a sigh "My head hasn't been in the right space since everything happened and I did something dumb, I know it's no excuse but once I had the idea in my head I had to do it." I was apologizing to the group and to Daryl, I looked around at most of the members of the group who seemed to accept it, Chris' features had even softened considerably.

Daryl's face held no emotion, he obviously didn't think much of my apology and I'd dug myself in a pretty big hole.

"This is how it goes Michonne, you want to join the group then the walkers go" Shane spoke up as most of the group agreed

"Alright" she spoke before raising the katana and slashing their heads off without a second thought

"Whoa! That was so cool" I heard Carl pipe up in the background

"There's another condition" Rick spoke up this time "When we reach our destination, you leave the sword with me"

"I can't do that, it's my weapon" even I thought that was a ridiculous suggestion

"She saved my life, why would she now hurt you guys?"

"Why wouldn't she? Yeh were dumb enough ta bring her back without so much as checking whether she was crazy" Daryl spoke up again

"I'm not going to hurt anyone but I'm not going to give up my katana either, this is my protection and it can be your protection." Michonne spoke up, making a very good point

"Fine, you can keep the sword but we'll be keeping a close eye on you for the time being" Rick offered clearly feeling defeated.

Once the group gathering had finished Daryl stormed off, he obviously wasn't willing to allow me the opportunity of talking to him. I'd have to make it for myself. I jogged after him, catching up easily.

"I'm sorry Daryl" I said as I walked beside him

"yeh damn well better be" he looked at me narrowing his eyes "I just lost Merle an' here I was thinkin' I'd lost you too, I felt like some pansy bastard pinin' after some bitch who'd left him. Yeh left me an' yeh didn't even tell me" he stopped abruptly grabbing me by the shoulders, his fingers digging in uncomfortably

"if it weren't for that chick, yeh'd be as good as dead. If you want to go out there and get yehself killed, then fine but yeh need ta remember that there are people who want yeh alive. Chris, Carol, Myself. Don't be so damn selfish, this wasn't for Chris. It was ta make yeh feel better an' yeh know it" his words hit me hard I as nodded dumbly

"at least yeh get it" he let go of my shoulders, the marks of his strong fingers still indented in my skin "I'm going ta check if the hospital buildin' has any separate entrances."

He left me standing there as he headed off toward the hospital; I made my way back to the cars and found Michonne leaning against the van

"You and the redneck?" she raised an eyebrow with her inquiry

"Something like that" I grumbled, I didn't quite know what Daryl and I's one sided discussion meant

"I heard what he said to you and whilst I don't know what went on, I can tell you he'll get over it. Just needs some man time, my boyfriend used to be the same. He'd get pissed at me, throw a tantrum, leave and then be back in a few hours to sort things out. The redneck seems a little more stubborn but he'll get over it" she smiled, I was really beginning to like Michonne

"Hope so, this is such a shitty time to be fighting."

Talking with Michonne was surprisingly easy, I think it helped that she'd only just become a member of the group; she had a fresh perspective on things and a clear understanding of how survive in this world.

"Where'd you get the Katana?" I said looking at the now sheathed sword

"It was my neighbour's sword, he used to cause a lot of trouble with it but never knew how to handle it properly, and when the apocalypse started he was one of the first to go. I knew fencing from childhood and college so I figured it would make a good weapon. I found it in his house." She explained there was an undertone of pain in her voice as she spoke.

"Who were the guys on the chains?"

"My boyfriend and his best friend, they were both gone before I got the chance to save anyone…" she paused "I can't talk about this right now" she left me standing by the van as she headed off in the direction of the RV.

I opened the bag of prosthetics pulling them out one by one and lining them up, I'd managed to grab 5, they all looked better than a piece of wood. I knew Daryl was right though, I'd done this because I felt guilty for keeping Chris alive and causing him so much pain. I wanted to do something to make things easier for him in turn making me feel better about it.

Daryl was extremely intuitive and observant, without being told he'd known about Shane shooting Otis before anyone else.

_"Shane shot Otis" Dale spoke quietly to both Daryl and I_

"I know" Daryl spoke up "that guy has been acting guilty as hell ever since he came back, he can't even look Patricia in the eye. That story he told at the funeral was bullshit, he had to think it up. There's no way Otis woulda' sacrificed himself for Carl. No matter how guilty he felt he was a big part of this farm and he had Patricia to think about"

"_You knew?" Dale questioned incredulously_

"_The hell do yeh expect us to do anyway old man?"_

"_Help me convince the others to get him to leave. He's dangerous" Dale explained_

"_He's protecting us Dale, he might snap one day but so long as we keep an eye on him it'll be fine. He's cut out for this world, he's realistic, he's strong and he knows what to do most of the time" I sighed, I loved Dale and I wanted to support him but I couldn't support sending Shane away_

"_I agree with Isa, I don't like it but we need Shane right now" Daryl offered Dale a sad smile_

"_Fine, It's clear you two don't want to stand against him" Dale huffed before walking away._

I looked up at the van door was opened, Daryl stood there looking at me "I see yer sittin' here feelin' sorry for yehself" he spat at me

"I was just thinking things over…you were right Daryl." I sighed

"Didn't need yeh to confirm it" he gave me a smirk

"I know that. What I'm trying to say, is that I'm sorry for being selfish and doing this when you already said no" I hated apologizing, yet here I was.

"s'lright, do it again an' I'll have yer guts for gatters" he threatened "yer just lucky Michonne was there to save yeh" he shook his head

"So are you going to start talking to me or keep ignoring me?" I scooted closer to him

"not yet, need some time tah think 'bout things" he frowned "looks like those things have got yeh stumped anyway or maybe that's Chris." he gave me a smirk and I bit back a laugh "I'll send him yer way" he got out of the van before I had a chance to respond.

"I see you've been a little busy" Chris spoke up startling me from my thoughts as he look over the various prosthetics.

"I guess you could say so…" I looked up at him trying to gauge his mood "sit down…"

He took a seat beside me running his hand over the prosthetic closest to him "why'd you do it?"

"Because I want to make up for the pain and difficulty" I sighed "try this one, it looks perfect" I picked up the one sitting between us.

"Thank you…I had a feeling you might do it even when they said no, I'm just eternally thankful that Michonne was there to save you" he leant over and put his arm around me kissing my forehead

"Me too" I leant into him resting my head on his shoulder.

"This one looks good" he took the prosthetic from me and held it against his leg, I helped him unhook his wooden version and try the new one on. It was a little long but fit alright.

We went through the prosthetics one by one, finding that the 3rd one had fit the best and was the best length. It was weird bonding with my brother over something so completely bizarre. Months ago if someone had told me that my brother and I would be bonding over the fact that I'd cut off his leg and I'd found him some prosthetic legs.

We spent a while longer talking before I led him out for a walk, he was moving better than before with this new prosthetic and it gave his leg better support. I was quite proud that one of the ones I'd found worked so well and that overall my plan had worked.

I left him with Amy after about 20 minutes of walking around and sat on the front of Carols Cherokee, feeling more alone than ever. I knew Daryl wasn't angry at me anymore but he seemed to be taking a lot of time to think, too much even.

I leant back against the windshield staring up at the sky, it was going to be a long night.

"What's so interestin' bout the sky?" his familiar accent startled me

"The stars" I shrugged, tilting my head to look at him

"I'm sure it's better lookin' at the sky without all them city lights" he took a seat beside me

"That's true" I turned my head to smile at him "have you finished thinking yet?"

"Got a little bit more to do, but I'd be open to sharin' the van with you tonight" he offered "Come on, it's getting late an' everyone will be headin' to bed, no one else on watch, let's not make things difficult for Shane…"

**A/N: Spoiler alert…**

**I'm sooooo sad that Dale got killed and disappointed about Shane. Dale was one of my favourite characters. How crazy was the finale and the whole Ricktatorship thing was awesome! So freakin excited that they added Michonne to the series, she is legit my favourite character from the comics. I wasn't going to add her to the story until further along but I couldn't resist adding her now because of the wait until October. Anyway, until the next chapter! Enjoy!**


	6. Pain

**A/N: Finally! A NEW CHAPTER ANNNNNNND a NEW Episode. I haven't seen it yet. But I hope you all enjoyed it and also enjoy this chapter. All feedback is appreciated!**

Michonne and I crept through the fifth and final floor of the hospital; I was following along behind her keeping a look out for any walkers coming from behind. They weren't exactly silent but it was far too easy to be crept up on.

There were four other pairs on each level, below us on the fourth floor were Daryl and Glenn, on third floor Andrea and Shane, on the second floor T-Dog and Jimmy and on the bottom floor much to my dismay, Chris and Amy.

I had remained calm when I'd been informed of the pairings, even smiling at Chris as if it was okay with me. Though my calm façade had faded as soon as I was alone with Daryl, resulting in a screaming match that I was sure the rest of the survivors had heard.

The sympathetic looks from Carol had been bordering on annoying but I knew her heart was in the right place.

Daryl's mind was made up and there was no changing it. As a result we hadn't been talking to one another. I always hated the idea of staying angry at him, especially since this was the end of the world.

Michonne led the way with her sword at the ready; my heart was in my throat. I hated the feeling of sick anticipation I had; that gut feeling that every person got, I knew something bad was going to happen and I wasn't sure would be there to stop it.

We crept toward a set of doors with glass windows careful not to disturb its potential occupants; the door was blocked by a hospital bed. We took a look in the window, finding that it surprisingly only housed two walkers, both of female and both most disturbingly, heavily pregnant. I resisted the urge to gag as I covered my mouth.

My mind raced as I thought of these women being bitten, losing their right to raise their children, the moment their happiness turned to despair and the pain they felt. I wondered if they were alone or they relied on each other, maybe one bit the other.

Though it seemed as if they'd both received singular bites before being checked in, there were no ripped flesh wounds and they looked fairly clean.

I shuddered and turned to make sure we were still alone in the hall. We travelled toward the medical supply closet in silence both of us too disturbed to talk; Michonne carefully opened the door waiting for any walkers to pounce or rather stumble before poking her head in the door.

"Clear" she whispered.

We crept in, shutting the door behind us for protection. The lack of walkers was almost more concerning then actually seeing a few, where were they all?

As we went through the list of medications we needed and searched through the ordered baskets, my mind drifted back to the groups on the other floors. Were all the walkers there with the others? Were they on the level below with Daryl and Glenn or on the bottom floor with Amy and my brother?

I could be standing in a medical supplies closet while the people who mean the most to me are being swarmed.

I stopped for a moment to take a deep breath, to recollect my thoughts and control the panic.

"They'll be fine…" Michonne whispered as she turned to face me

"What makes you say that?" I tried my best not to look frantic and frazzled.

"Because Daryl's clearly capable of taking care of himself, regardless of whether he's injured or not." She gave me a reassuring smile before she continued "Chris and Amy will be so on edge I don't think it'd be possible for either of them to be snuck up on by a walker." I was beginning to believe she could read my thoughts, she always seemed to have the answers and she knew me well.

It was apparent that no one had ventured to this level since the walkers had been blocked in their ward. We found every medication on the list plus some, this was arguably the best level to be on. All the supplies were intact and all the walkers had obviously ventured further down or they hadn't been up here in the first place.

Opening the door a crack I took a peek, still no walkers in sight.

"Clear" I mouthed to Michonne who nodded.

Slipping out the door we headed toward the stairs, I realized I wasn't the only one feeling uneasy about the lack of walkers, it just wasn't natural. After a while you adapt to the fact that walkers are always around, and if there aren't any walkers around then they've probably found their next meal.

As Michonne opened the door the dead stench hit me like a ton of bricks, even though there were no walkers in the stairwell the smell permeated through the whole building.

The most disturbing part of the smell was the more you smelt it the more you got used to it, there was no time for gagging or spewing because chances are if you took the time you'd get bitten.

There were still no signs of walkers but we took our time down the stairs, careful to make sure out feet didn't make a sound. I was fairly sure even from this distance Daryl would hear it, it didn't matter how hard you tried to be silent he heard you. You never ever heard him coming though, even on the creakiest floorboards.

We stopped at the door of the fourth floor looking at each other; the plan was for everyone to leaving around the same time. Some pairs would team up whilst the others made their way back to camp.

As we opened the door the evidence of Daryl and Glenn passing through was clear, there were a few walkers sprawled on the floor with clear head wounds.

I let out the breath I didn't know I'd been holding as we ventured toward the supplies closet, checking for walkers in each room as we did, all the rooms were blocked off with hospital beds each had two or three walkers in them. Whoever had thought to block them off was an absolute genius.

"Daryl…" I whispered as we approached the door, it was to make him aware of our approach and the fact that we were functioning humans. The last thing either of us needed was an arrow or a knife to the head.

We stepped back as the door was opened slowly and we were practically dragged in the door

"The hell are yeh doing here?" Daryl hissed glaring at the both of us

"Back off redneck, this was part of the plan" Michonne growled in what could only be described as a protective manner "just because you have a bruised ego about her putting you in your place gives you no right to treat either of us like crap."

They glared at one another as Glenn and I eyed them warily, Daryl did not trust Michonne at all and he could not stand the fact that Michonne was willing to protect me and I was willing to trust her.

"Give it a rest you two" I huffed "we haven't got time for your arguing."

This time Glenn and led the way as the other two followed along, they had our backs which was nice and they had to work together which was amusing.

We found Shane and Andrea waiting for us in the stairwell "This place is like a medical goldmine man" Shane whispered, a look of genuine happiness on his face

"It's a nice change from all the looted places" Glenn agreed

A couple of roaring screams filled the building as we all shot each other panicked looks, the slow quiet shuffle was swapped for full on sprinting down the stairs as we made it to the level 2 door in time to see a group of at least 10 walkers having a feeding frenzy.

My stomach dropped, they could only be feeding on the people screaming.

"We have to stop em" Daryl hissed angrily

"Its too dangerous Dixon" Shane retorted almost haughtily as if his word was gospel

"We ain't letting those bastards be the death of T or the kid" by now Daryl was in his face

"Lets just do it, the redneck and I will lead since our weapons are the most efficient, I want Andrea and Isabella behind us and then you two guarding the four of us" Michonne directed, looking at Shane and Glenn with the last statement.

Before anyone could answer or even react Michonne had opened the door and walked through with Daryl hot on her tail, we had no choice but to follow.

Michonne made quick work of the first few walkers as Daryl shot one before reloading impressively fast and shooting another, Andrea and I were left with no choice but to get up close and personal stabbing a walker each through the eye. Michonne was already slicing through the last two walkers by the time Andrea and I were done.

With the walkers dead and in a big heap the sight in front of us was painful, T Dog was barely alive with chunks taken out of his shoulder, neck and legs, and he had other bites on his body as well. Jimmy was gone, his face had been ripped clean off and his arms torn off.

"I'm sorry T Dog" Shane sounded choked up as he knelt beside the man

"S'lright man" he murmured "I can go see the big man upstairs and ask what the hell he was thinking"

"Just close your eyes T" I knelt beside him "thanks for taking care of Chris and I when we first joined. I'll make sure Carol's taken care of"

Daryl took a moment to retrieve Jimmy's arms and place them with his body before shooting him in the head. I knew Daryl was feeling the weight of having to shoot T Dog.

"I'll do it, you all knew him a lot longer than I did" I spoke up looking between the 'Original' members of the group, all but Daryl nodded. I got to my feet and approached Daryl "just let me do this for you" I whispered as our eyes connected, he nodded and placed the already reloaded crossbow in my hands.

I knelt beside T Dog, my hands shaking as I aimed the crossbow at his head "Goodbye T" I pulled the trigger as the arrow flew the short distance, the crack of T Dogs skull rung in my ears as his body released all tension.

The decision was made to leave the hospital immediately and come back for their bodies the next day.

We found Chris and Amy waiting in the stairwell as I threw myself at my younger brother

"thank god you're okay" I found myself sobbing in his arms

"Ditto" he kissed the top of my head "what happened?"

"T and Jimmy were surrounded by walkers." Shane answered.

The walk back to camp was a sombre one, no one wanted to talk about what had happened yet we all had to face the others and tell them we'd lost T-Dog and Jimmy.


End file.
